


The Unicorn & The Lion

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alice in Wonderland References, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, First Time, Happy Ending, Happy Mary Morstan, Hugs, Magical Tattoos, Mary Doesn't Know They're Soulmates, Morning After, Morning Cuddles, Nice Mary Morstan, POV Mary Morstan, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Surprise Kissing, Surprised John Watson, Surprised Mary Morstan, happy tears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:08:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22231552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: Mary never thinks she'll find her soulmate and wishes John Watson was hers, knowing for sure she can't be that lucky. But sometimes, wishes come true...
Relationships: Mary Morstan/John Watson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Sherlolly Secret Santa: 2019





	The Unicorn & The Lion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [basketcase1880](https://archiveofourown.org/users/basketcase1880/gifts).



> My Sherlolly Secret Santa mod gift for **basketcase1880**. They like Warstan as a secondary Sherlock pairing, and they also like soulmate AUs, so I wrote this as a gift. Enjoy!

She had never seen the half-finished tattoo on her back in anything more than photographs and the briefest of reflections in the mirror. It was rather elaborate, as soulmate tattoos went: a unicorn rearing up on its legs, a crown on its head, with half a heart by its lower legs. Most people she knew had simple ones, but hers was on her shoulder, visible any time she wore a strappy vest, and it always got her questions of whether it was a soulmate tat or not.

But she never minded the questions and the stares. She knew it would never be finished, that she would never have the luck in her life to find her soulmate. She just wasn’t the sort to have good luck that way.

So it was with surprise that she met and fell for John Watson hard when she made her way to England, looking for a fresh start away from the mess that was her past. A new name, a new livelihood, a new life...and a new love, for the first time in what felt like forever. She felt so happy when she saw him, whether it was at the surgery or on their rather simple dates. He made her feel like a full person despite the holes in her past that she held back.

She wanted to move slowly because he’d been through a great loss. She knew all about his friendship and partnership with Sherlock Holmes, and how that grand bastard James Moriarty had dealt him a deathly blow. She’d had her own run-ins with Moriarty, and while she had assurances he was dead, she wouldn’t believe it until she saw the body. In the meantime, she had drifted towards John Watson on paper long before she drifted towards him in person.

He was kind, he was patient, and he was lovely, and she wasn’t surprised she fell in love with him, even as he worked through his grief of losing his best friend. She was there by his side, moving their personal relationship as slowly as he needed to, as he wanted to, and she was happy enough with that. Oh, it would have been nice to have more, to have him be her soulmate and to settle down into a life better than she’d ever had before with a good man, for a change, but that wasn’t to be her fate. But she loved him, so while she could have him she’d hold onto him tightly until she had to let go.

But while she knew she loved him, it wasn’t until the first time they’d made love that she knew for sure that what she knew in her head and what fate had in store for her were two entirely different things.

There had been some alcohol involved that evening, and they’d stumbled into a darkened bedroom with only bits of moonlight filtering through windows for lighting. There were smooth caresses, kissing, and more, and she was satisfied and sated as she fell asleep in his bed, curled up close against him as the darkness in the room enveloped them both. She had felt safe and full and loved that night, and even though she knew this relationship wouldn’t have the happy ending every girl dreamed of when they finally found their soulmate, for now, it was enough.

When she woke up in the morning, she was lying on her stomach and he was tracing her tattoo, the feel of the unicorn being familiar to her as she’d had other lovers trace the half-finished tattoo...and then he traced more. And it didn’t feel like random tracings; it felt more substantial than that. She stirred and stretched before rolling over to face him.. “Drawing something special for the empty half?” she asked, a little sad as it was another sign that while she loved him, they weren’t meant to be, that eventually, they would drift apart even though she loved him so.

But he frowned in response. “Empty half?”

“Yeah. I have the lion and half a heart there,” she said, frowning herself now.

“No. You have a unicorn with a crown on its head and a full heart and a lion with a crown on its head as well that’s reared up on its hind legs. Like the bit from Alice In Wonderland? The lion and the unicorn who are fighting in the story?” He shifted and turned his side towards her, and on his ribcage, she saw the tattoo he had described on her fully fleshed out. “I thought you’d seen it and you knew. I’ve had the thing filled out for ages now, it seems. And my lion is there on your back, just like your unicorn is there.”

She moved to a sitting position and reached over to carefully trace his tattoo, her fingers running over the lion’s mane. “We’re soulmates?”

“Wait, you mean you didn’t know? That we’re soulmates? I swear...” he started to say before shaking his head. “I swear, I thought you knew. I just thought...I mean, I never thought I’d meet my soulmate, but the day after I met you I saw the tattoo was finally filled out and you were the only new person I had met that day and then I knew that no matter what, I needed to get a grip and move on because you deserved better than a broken, beaten down man.”

“Oh, John,” she said as tears pricked her eyes. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him all over his face, a wide smile on her face. She pulled away and he wiped her tears away before she kissed him soundly on the lips, an action that lead to even more shortly after. But knowing she was lucky enough that this man, this lovely wonderful man, was her soulmate...she had never felt so full of love and felt so loved in return as she did now. She had found her soulmate and he was the best man she ever knew, and no matter what, for the rest of her time on this earth, she would stay by his side.


End file.
